The present invention relates to sprayer heads associated with plumbing fittings such as faucets. More particularly it relates to assemblies for more securely docking a sprayer head between uses.
It is very common to associate a sprayer with a faucet used adjacent a kitchen sink. Most often, the sprayer is mounted separately from the faucet along a back mounting ledge of the sink or along a counter top behind or at a side of the sink. When the sprayer is not directly incorporated into the faucet it is sometimes referred to as a “side spray”.
Of course, even such side sprays are typically linked to a faucet via various supply lines under the counter, often via a diversion system that operates such that triggering the side spray will automatically divert water from a faucet outlet to the sprayer head.
In other arrangements, the sprayer is of the pull-out type and is mounted on a part of the faucet itself. See e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,297. In this type of arrangement, the sprayer can be mounted on a horizontal portion of the faucet. However, in other designs it can be docked to a more vertical part of the faucet. See e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,325.
Regardless of whether the sprayer is docked between uses on a horizontal, partially vertical, or completely vertical surface, it is desirable that the sprayer appear to be properly positioned between uses. To facilitate this many sprayers have a weighted hose which tends to automatically drag the sprayer back to its seat when the sprayer is not held out from the seat. However, such a system can be defeated if too many boxes and bottles (e.g. dishwashing detergent and counter top cleaner) are stored under the sink and stop the weight from properly performing. Even when that is not the case, the sprayer head, as it docks, can sometimes catch in a position where it appears tilted.
In one approach to address these types of issues, a magnet was associated with the seat to use magnetic force to help properly seat the sprayer during docking. However, that placed some constraints on the materials which were used, and the effectiveness of this technique is somewhat limited if the spray head is accidentally bumped.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,690 described the use of a spring loaded ball to help facilitate positioning of a spout part. However, such a system is somewhat complicated to install, and in any event could suffer from maintenance and/or reliability concerns.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,770 disclosed the use of flex tabs on a spray head to facilitate mounting of a spray head through side walls of a mounting base. However, this significantly affected the aesthetics of the design.
Accordingly, there exists a need for improving the manner in which sprayers are docked to their seating areas between uses, without incurring these other types of concerns.